Month: May 2008

In a recent speech, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates pleaded with the armed services to emphasize preparing for war against guerrillas instead of spending so much money and effort getting ready for conventional wars. He said that he wanted to avoid the erosion of counterinsurgency capabilities that occurred after the Vietnam War, when the U.S. … Continue reading “Gates’s Hope to Reform the Pentagon Is Barking at the Moon”

On the 60th anniversary of the establishment, within the Mandate for Palestine, of Israel as a sovereign Jewish state, President Bush told Israel’s legislature, that “Permitting the world’s leading sponsor of terror to possess the world’s deadliest weapon would be an unforgivable betrayal of future generations.” Obviously, Bush does not intend to leave office having … Continue reading “World’s Deadliest Weapon”

A US Army soldier who served as a military journalist in Afghanistan, Japan, Europe and the Philippines announced Thursday his intent to refuse orders to deploy to Iraq. "As an Army journalist whose job it was to collect and filter service members’ stories, I heard many stomach-churning testimonies of the horrors of the crimes taking … Continue reading “Soldier Refuses Iraq Tour, Citing ‘Stomach-Churning Horrors’”

It has been a week of adulation from world leaders, ostentatious displays of military prowess, and street parties. Heads of state have rubbed shoulders with celebrities to pay homage to the Jewish state on its 60th birthday, while a million Israelis reportedly headed off to the country’s forests to enjoy the national pastime: a barbecue. … Continue reading “On Independence Day, Israeli Arabs Reminded of Their Place”

Updated at 9:30 p.m. EDT, May 16, 2008Few clashes were reported in Sadr City, where a truce between Shi’ite gunmen and Iraqi forces was imposed earlier this week. At least 16 Iraqis were killed and another 41 were wounded in attacks during a fairly quiet prayer day. Also, the DOD reported the death of an … Continue reading “Friday: 1 US Soldier, 16 Iraqis Killed; 41 Iraqis Wounded”

In separate speeches delivered an ocean apart, the two standard bearers of the Republican Party Thursday offered rosy visions of a future designed to gladden the hearts of Israel-centered neoconservatives without offering any details about how their dreams will be achieved. In an address marking the 60th anniversary of Israel’s founding before the Knesset in … Continue reading “An Ocean Apart, Bush, McCain Play to Neocon Dreams”

On May 15, the White House Moron, in a war-planning visit to Israel, justified the naked aggression he and Olmert are planning against Iran as the only alternative to "the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history." But the White House Moron has the roles reversed. It is not Iran that … Continue reading “Lies of Aggression”

Few countries are as tragic as Lebanon. Once viewed as the Switzerland of the Middle East, some three decades ago the country collapsed into a bitter civil war. The finely tuned sectarian political system fractured amidst numerous Christian and Muslim factions. Multiple Israeli invasions and incursions followed; the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Syria dominated at … Continue reading “This Time, Avoid the Lebanese Quagmire”

One of the greatest speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr., "A Time to Break Silence," was delivered at Riverside Church, New York City, on April 4, 1967. It is a statement against war in principle, in the same sense in which King’s "Letter from Birmingham City Jail," published four years earlier, had been a statement … Continue reading “Martin Luther King’s Speech Against the Vietnam War”

As you go into your weekend, leaving the cares of work and other sources of stress behind you, I’ve harvested a few nuggets of wisdom to chew on now that we all have a moment to ourselves. First off, here’s John J. Mearsheimer, co-author, with Stephen Walt, of The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy, … Continue reading “‘May You Live In Interesting Times’”